Forum:2019-12-27 (Friday)
Discussion for comic for . The wiki pages don't just write themselves, join in on the fun. ---- Hmpf. I was right. We are supposed to think Agatha's just too modest and unassuming. Which is sort of subverted by Snacky, who wasn't exactly self-aware, but didn't burn out. ➤ ... and conversely, with Albia, Lucrezia, and Snacky on one side, Agatha is the only example we have of someone who didn't just take right to it. Bkharvey (talk) 06:57, December 27, 2019 (UTC) : Umm, no, there is another. Note the scale in the 2nd to last panel and Countess Marie's comment in the last panel. Doug Relyea (talk) 08:59, December 27, 2019 (UTC) :: Oh, pooh. If one were to take seriously the idea of Payne as God, he too would be someone who took right to it. Bkharvey (talk) 09:42, December 27, 2019 (UTC) :: :: He may have. He may also have held back, we don't know his backstory. I do agree that barring extenuating circumstances, Master Payne would have gotten it right the first time. Eg. did he already have the Circus of Adventure as an obligation before his ascension? Doug Relyea (talk) 10:58, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::: You're being silly. Too much to drink at the Christmas party, or something. :P If he were a God, he would have just had Bang struck by lightning. And then Wulfenbach (sr.), if he'd made trouble about it. No, as Master Payne , "We are actors, Miss Clay. We only pretend to be heros. We are fakes! These are tricks!" Bkharvey (talk) 11:18, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::: Precisely. in the story they had everyone (including Agatha, for a moment) convinced that the "Heterodynes had returned™". We find out soon enough it's a mass hypnosis facilitated by an hallucinogenic drug. It's almost certain Payne is using the same trick here. Or if not, something very similar. As for "act?", no doubt Payne had something up his sleeve to use if he needed to be the evil magician; The Countess' reaction simply implies he would have enjoyed that. --Dmbreakey (talk) 16:23, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::: And I disagree. The example given by Bkharvey is after Passholdt, when the odds of finding villagers not turned into Shambler type revenents is somewhere between nil and zip. And 3 months before Sturmhalten. I would buy into the hallucinogenic drug IF Countess Marie was dressed during the example I cited, as she was after the drug wore off. ::: Take on the Wulfenbachs? We saw how well Snackleford did against Vapnoople, and Snackleford had a halo. Vapnoople was bested by Klaus so I expect even had Master Payne achieved full 2nd level Sparkhood, he would have fared no better challenging Klaus. Just as skill and ability varies among the first level Sparks, I expect it will do so among the second level (and higher) Sparks. Doug Relyea (talk) 17:24, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::: The thing with Payne, he's a magician. So it could all be Sparky tech, or all illusions and tricks. It's interesting to note that it's never been explicitly stated that he personally is a Spark. (Marie definitely is; she starts Sparking out after The Monster Horse Beastie attack.) --Geoduck42 (talk) 18:59, December 27, 2019 (UTC) :::: @Doug: Are you actually serious about this? I've been assuming you're just entertaining us with an anything-is-possible argument. It would be fun to watch a Klaus-vs.-Albia battle. Bkharvey (talk) 19:52, December 27, 2019 (UTC) :::: :::: Yes, I am serious that Master Payne is a spark. Countess Marie explains that several of the members of the circus are sparks but does not name them. On the next page, top row, she then adds that those who are sparks are not necessarily good at it. (why Payne doesn't have a halo would fit here.) :::: There was also a Word of God pronouncement that spark level ability existed in the other fields ( if someone can link to that, thanks) :::: I think Master Payne is using both: magician sparky tech with magician illusions and tricks. :::: :::: I think a Klaus-vs-Albia fight would be Pyrrhic at best, and Klaus likely has all manner of Black Level items that would negate and dispel Albia's "magic" (magic in quotes because Klaus recognizes it is just a higher level of Science) Doug Relyea (talk) 20:34, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::::: Ah, okay, I apologize for not taking you seriously. As to the question at hand, sure, he could be a spark. A lot of his job at the circus is not getting carried away into Madness Place, but if Tarvek can do it, which he almost always can, Payne can too. But not a God; if that were true, apart from specific situations, he would behave differently all the time. I can't see a God going through life always hiding his Godhood, level of ability or not. -- In fact, it's hard to imagine a not-that-great Spark getting to second level! ➤ ::::: By the way, I've been meaning to mention, I really like the art today. Agatha has a different expression in each panel, all exactly appropriate to what she's saying, and all beautiful. Bkharvey (talk) 20:42, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::::: Even if Payne has the ability to attain Second-level Spark, he appears to be lacking a power source. The god-level Spark appears to be mainly the ability to channel/direct energy. But an energy source is required. ⚙Zarchne (talk) 22:18, December 27, 2019 (UTC) : I would say Agatha did take to it, but was luckily interrupted by the events going on. Or maybe, more importantly and generally, protected by her relationship with her friends. If it had just been her and the Dyne, she may well have overdone it and exploded. The wisdom she's showing now has been earned in part by the adventures she's had since. It's also been guaranteed by not having access to the Dyne. On the other hand, I'm not sure exactly what power Lucrezia was accessing when she ascended in Agatha's body. But there was machinery in the room, perhaps that, and it was because that's all there was that they were able to defeat her. ⚙Zarchne (talk) 22:35, December 27, 2019 (UTC) P.S. "Seas above!" I had to read that three times before I noticed that it's funny! Bkharvey (talk) 06:59, December 27, 2019 (UTC) : Hmmmm, must be the remains of the Science dome now heading for the surface. The lights would be systems and/or equipment that had battery backup, still trying to function. : Or it could be the Temple, jarred loose by the explosion, with the remains of the Science dome atop it, headed for the surface. : Or it could be both, with the now deactivated Somnapens that held Dr Vapnoople's Great Cetaceans, headed for the surface. : Next time, on Girl Genius. Doug Relyea (talk) 08:51, December 27, 2019 (UTC) ::Imma think Godzilla. More or less. :D Bosda Di'Chi (talk) 11:33, December 27, 2019 (UTC) :::There's always a bigger fish! --Mad Latinist (talk) 17:29, December 29, 2019 (UTC) :::: Bigger than this? Cool !! Doug Relyea (talk) 00:41, December 30, 2019 (UTC)